Deutsche Börse invested $200 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, pushing deeper into crypto infrastructure.
German stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse has bought a $200 million stake in Payward, the company behind crypto exchange Kraken.
The deal gives Deutsche Börse a 1.5% fully diluted stake and values the crypto exchange at about $13.3 billion, down from roughly $20 billion in a late-2024 share sale, according to a Bloomberg-calculated figures.
Kraken Faces Lower Valuation, Paused IPO
The latest deal marks a lower valuation for the exchange. In November 2025, Kraken said it was valued at $20 billion after raising $800 million, including a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities.
- Kraken, one of the longest-running crypto exchanges in the U.S., has been shifting toward more regulated financial products, including derivatives in Europe.
- That repositioning has been part of its broader push to prepare for a public listing.
- However, IPO plans were paused in March of this year as market conditions cooled.
The timing is also complicated. On Monday, April 13, Kraken disclosed an extortion attempt linked to limited access to internal data affecting about 2,000 accounts. The company said client funds weren’t at risk. It also refused to pay the ransom, adding it’s working with law enforcement on the incident.
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